Swinging gate



(No Model.)

" WLR. WHITE.

SWINGING GATE.

Patented Nov. fr w1 Tn: Noums mens co., Fumo-Limo.. wAsmNnroN. ny c.

2 Sheetsmshget 1.

l(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 2.

W. R. WHITE. vsvvlwfms GATE.

No. 593,757. Patented Nov. 16, 1897.

' NiTnD Stn/ariesl- 'ATENT ii sinon.

SWINGING GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Lettere rateilt No. 598,757, datedNovember 1e, 1897.

Application led March 2 3, l 8 9 7( construction, arrangement, andcombinations y of parts as will hereinafter be more particularlydescribed.

The invention has reference more particularly to that class of swinginggates in which the longitudinally-movable latch-bar is operated throughthe medium of connections between the gate and operating hand-leverstherefor, and as distinguished from a number of former patents grantedme on this subject the latch-bar is normally ina retracted position whenthe gate is closed, instead of the reverse, as heretofore.

As constructed in accordance with my former patents many of my improvedgates have been provided with laterally-projecting frames both forsupporting the lever o r other connections for operating the latch-baras well as affording protection to said connections from the elements tosome extent and from rubbing and interference on the part of stockwithin orv without the fence inclosure. In nearly every case where Ihaveused said ylaterally-projecting frame I have derived most excellentresults therefrom; but as a matter of fact the use of such a framelimits the extent to which the gate can be opened on account of theconnections between the gate and operating-levers being necessarilyrestricted as to length. As a rule the gates constructed in accordancewith some of my former patents will operate perfectly to carry or swingthe free end of the gate around to the extent of a full quarter of acircle, or, as may be said, back and forth between two points or postslying at right angles to the support for the gate, one point or postbeing situated directly across the roadway from the gate-supporting postand the other point or post being in alinement with said gate-supportingpost on the same side ofthe roadway serai No. e 28,858. (No model.)

therewith. This extent of movement is suffcient for all generalpurposes; but it fre-v quently happens to be desirable to locate a gateat or` near to a point where two roads separate from each other at otherthan a right 'angle--say a main road and a branch roadand which wouldrequire ordinarily that a vehicle be driven all the way through thegate-openingsay from the main roadand then to be turned almostcompletely around by which to gain the lateral or branch road, andwhich, it will be understood, is undesirvable and inconvenient. l

My present invention has forits object to provide means whereby theextent to which the gate can be opened is increased, and also todispense with the laterally projecting frame onthe gate for any purposewhatsoever. A further object of the invention is to provide simple andeffective devices for operating the latch-bar and to so construct suchdevices that they will project as little as possible from the side ofthe gate.

These and other objects I attain by the means illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a view inperspective of a swinging gate having my improvements embodied inconnection therewith, the said v iew indicating the outer post', againstwhich the free end of the gate may be swung whenever it is desired tocarry the same beyond a quarter circle or turn, by which to enable avehicle to be driven from one road onto another or branch road directlythe vehicle passes through the gate-opening. Fig. 2 is a front elevationof the gate in its closed position. Fig. 3 is a top or plan view, andFig. Llis a detail View in perspective of the lever fo1.oper ating thelatch-bar. y Y

In another application, filed March 24, 1897,

p Serial No. 629,065, I have shown and' described what I term a combinedrocking and oscillating lever for operating the movable latchbar andwhich lever is so disposed that a laterally-projecting frame isnecessaryas a means of support therefor. Furthermore, in the application referredto the oscillating arm or member of the lever moves substantially in ahorizontal plane and the rocking arm or member thereof workssubstantially in a ver- IOO tical plane. In the present instance Idispense with the laterally-projecting frame altogether, and I employthe same character of operating-lever for the latch-bar with somemodification, but I reverse the arrangement 01' order, so that theoscillating arln or member of said lever works in substantially avertical plane and the rocking arm or member thereof operates in asubstantially horizontal plane. The effect is that the connectionbetween said lever and the connecting-bar from the hand-levers isbrought to or slightly above the top of the gate, whereby full sweep ofsaid bar is obtained, and, furthermore, the said connection of the endof the said bar with the said lever is brought as close as practicableto the side of the gate, which latter is a practical necessity, in orderto derive the in creased range of movement in the openin g of the gate.

In the drawings, 1 represents the gate,which may be of any ordinaryconstruction, 2 the post, upon which the gate is supported by means ofsuitable hinges 3 3, and 4 the post on the opposite side of thegate-opening and against which the gate closes.

5 is a post in alinement with post 2 on the same side of the roadwaytherewith, and 6 is a post set beyond said post 5 and against which thegate may be carried by detaehing the stop-block 7, carried by post 5 andagainst which block the gate is carried under ordinary circumstances orwhen the gate is not placed at the junction or crossing of two roads.Posts 5 and 2 are united by a top strip 8.

lhe operating hand-levers for the gate are designated at 9 9, one beingfulcrumed or mounted on a block 10, secured to post 5, and the other ona similar block or brace connecting the end of strip 8 with the post 2,and the two being movably joined together at their inner ends.

In virtue of the construction of the gate-operating devices to bedescribed I am enabled in the present instance to greatly lessen theweight of the inner ends of said levers, and a much shorter range ofmovement of said inner ends is required to release the latch-bar ascompared with many former constructions. I have also devised a guide forthe inner end of the hand-levers that is stlong and steady and comprisesa bent-wire frame a., having one end bent and projected through the topstrip 8 at Z) and having the member c thereof sunken into a verticalgroove or channel d, formed in said strip, and in this way said guide isnot liable to turn in its bearing or support. Said guide or frame isalso bent or turned outwardly at e and thence upwardly at f, the end ofone of the operating handlevers working between the two verticalportions, as shown.

The gate in the present instance is preferably constructed of fiat bars10, held apart by duplicate vertical strips 11, and the latchbar 12 isarranged to move back and forth between said vertical stri ps, and atits forward end the said latch-bar is provided with a reetangular loop18 for engaging a shoulder on the catch or keeper 14, supported by thepost 4. Said loop is of a height about equal to the space between thegate-bars 15 and 16 immediately above and below the latch-bar, and inthis way the loop rest-s upon the lower one, 1G, of said bars, and theforward end of the said bar is thus guided in the movement of the bar.Said form of loop also always insures the engagement of the same withthe catches or keepers on the posts at whatever position or height towhich the gate may be adjusted on its hinges.

Formed with or secured to the upper bar of the gate 1 is an eye 18,arranged in a horizontal plane and projecting from the far side of thegate, and at some lower point on the gate, but above the latch-bar-sayon the gate-bar just next above the lateh-bar-is another eye 19,arranged also in a horizontal plane and not quite so near to the hingedend of the gate as eye 18, and this eye 19 extends a short distance onlyfrom the near side of the gate in the direction of the inner ends of thehand-levers. The latch-bar 12 is formed a suitable distance from thehinged end of the gate with an opening 20, which is to one side of theeye 19 in the direction of the inner end of said bar or toward thehinged end of the gate. Passing through the eye 19 and having its lowerend entering the openin g 20 of the latch-bar is the longersubstantially vertically-disposed arm 2l of a combined roeking andoscillating lever 22, the said arm inclining slightly outward from thegate in the direction of the uppcrend thereof, but being straight, andworking in a substantially vertical plane and being quite close to theside of the gate and also extending slightly above the top of the gate.The said longer arm 21 of the said lever 22 could be united with theshorter horizontally-disposed arm 23 in any suitable manner, butpreferably the entire lever is in a single piece bent to form the eye orloop 24, the two arms lying orbcing arranged practically at right anglesto each other in horizontal and vertical positions. The shorter arm 23extends over and practically rests upon the upper edge of the gate, withits end bent downwardly to pass through the eye somewhat loosely, thesaid end being then bent slightly outward at 25, so as to prevent thearm from being lifted out of the eye. In the normal or closed positionof the gate the longer arm of said lever 22 has its lower end inclinedtoward the hinged end of the gate an extent suiheient to move thelatchbar far enough to disengage the same whenever the hand-levers areoperated. struction and arrangement are such that the said lever iscapable of a slight independent bodily movement vertically, since ifthis were not provided for the parts would practically bind or locktogether at a certain open position of the gate, so that the gate couldnot be carried to its full open position. The effect of such anarrangement also is that the ver- IOO The eonl the said latch-bar ismovedoutwardly and' tical movement of lsaid lever takes place at justabout the point where a dead-center would be likely to occur, and themovement of the gate is assisted, as it were, by such movement, and theoccurrence of a dead-cenv operating-levers, and it will be understoodthat the movement of either one of said handlevers will have its eiectupon the latch-bar and gate.

To more fully explain the nature of the operation of the combinedrocking and oscillating'lever 22, let it be supposed that one of thehand-levers has been drawn down upon to open the gate. The first eect ofsuch movement of the hand-lever will be to rock or turn the shorter armof the lever in a hori- Zontal plane, which at the same time carries thelower end of the longer arm of the lever in the direction of the far orouter end of the latch-bar in a vertical plane, and consequently thegate .is released. Immediately following this movement of the lever 22the connectingbar 30, by its lown swinging or gyratory movement, liftssaid lever vertically to a slight extent, so that the initial pullingstrain upon the gate is practically borne by the shorter arm of thelever, the momentum being relied upon in most instances to complete themovement of the gate. Now just at the point where a dead-center would beapt so occursay at about one-eighth turn of the gate--the lever 22iscaused to be again lowered, and of course as this lowering takes placethere is an ease-up between the connections, and as there is lessresistance and tendency to bind the gate is carriedl over the pointwithout catching and without'the necessity of undue manipulation ofthehand-levers. On closing the gate the lever 22 operates in the samemanner, but reversely.

It will be seen that by arranging the eye 18 to project from the farside of the gate and extending the shorter arm of the Alever 22 overanddown through the eye, as shown, I am enabled to*greatly shorten theconnection between the conn ecting-bar and the gate, and it will also beseen that when the gate is being turned from one position to another nostrain is exerted upon the latch-bar, since the inner end of the same isheld in a suspended position by the lower end of the longer oscillatingarm of said lever.

When the arrangement is such as to have the gate open only as far as thepost 5, or, say, one-quarter turn, the stop-block 7 is secured to saidpost, and the latch-bar of the gate will be engaged by the catch on saidblock. When, however, it is desired to carry the gate open to a greaterextent-say for live` sixteenths of a turn-so as toenable a team to bedriven directly through the gate-opening onto a lateral or branch road,then the l said stop-block is removed and the gate will be carried asfar as thepost 6 and'be in like manner engaged by the catch on saidpost. Of course when opening against the post 5 the inner ends of theoperating hand-levers will be caused to remain practically in the samehorizontal linewith the outer ends thereof; but when the gate is carriedagainst the post 6 the said inner ends of the said handlevers will sinkto a position corresponding to that which they occupy-when the gate isclosed, and the Weight of the ends of the handlevers will maintain thelatch-bar in its locked.

position. In either case, however, the gate will be securely lockeduntil operated to be closed.

It is apparent that while I have shown a combined rocking andoscillating lever for the latch-bar which involves a peculiarity ofconstruction and arrangement, as well as of operation, I am not limitedto theprecise details of said lever, but am at liberty to alter orchange the same in immaterial respects to meet different requirements inuse.

l. In a gate, the combination with suitable hand operating-levers,supporting-posts therefor, and a cross-brace, of a guide for said leverscomprising a frame having vone side or member thereof embedded in agroove in said braceandone end projected into or through the brace andthe 'other end left free, substantially as described.

2. In a gate, the combination of a latch-bar,

operatin g hand-levers for the gate, a combined ICO rocking andoscillating lever for operating the latch-bar, the same having anindependent movement vertically, and a connecting-bar between said leverand the hand-levers, substantially -as described.

3. In a gate, the combination of a latch-bar, operating hand-levers forthe gate, a lever for operating thejlatch-bar having a short armconnecting with the gate and rocking in a horizontal plane above thelatch-bar, and a longer armoscillating in a substantially vertical planeto move the bar, anda connecting-barl between said lever and the handoperatinglevers, substantially as described.

4. In a gate, the combination of a latch-bar, y

operating hand-levers for the gate, a lever for operating the latch-barhaving a short arm .connecting with the gate and rocking in a horizontalplane, and a longer arm oscillating in a substantially vertical plane tomove the bar, said lever having an independent vertical movement, and aconnecting-bar between said lever and the inner ends of the hand-levers,substantially as described.

5. In a gate, the combination of a latch-bar, operating hand-levers forthe gate, a lever for operating the latch-bar having a limited verticalmovement and constructed of a short arm and a long arm joined by an eyeor loop, the said short arm connecting with the gate, and the said longarm having a working bear- IIC ing on the gate, and a bar in movableconnection with said eye or loop and with one of the handoperating-levers, substantially as described. v

G. In a gate, the combination of a latch-bar, operating hand-levers forthe gate, a combined rocking and oscillating lever for operating thelatch-bar the same having an independent vertical movement and beingconstructed of a short arm in movable connection with the gate at thetop, and a long arm in movable connection with the bar, and aconnecting-bar between said lever and one of the hand-levers,substantially as described.

7. In a gate, the combination of a latch-bar, a horizontal bearingprojecting from the far side of the gate at the top, and a similarbearing projecting from the opposite side of the gate above thelatch-bar and to one side of said iirst bearing, a combined rocking andoscillating lever having a short arm passing through the iirst bearingand secured against vertical displacement, and a long arm inclining inthe direction of the hinged end of the gate and passing through thesecond bearing and being in movable connection with the latch-bar, and aconnecting-bar between said lever and the inner end of one of thehandlevers, substantially as described.

8. In a gate, the combination of posts arranged in the sweep or path ofthe free end of the gate, and at a right angle and an obtuse angle,respectively, to the plane of the gate when closed, the gate providedwith a movable latch-bar, operating hand-levers for the gate, means foroperating the latch-bar, and connections between said means and theinner end of one of the hand-levers, substantially as described.

9. The combination in a gate, of a longitudinally-movable latch-barconstructed with a loop for engaging the gate-posts in its open andclosed positions, said loop being extended vertically and supported andguided between guides above and below the latch-bar, substantially asdescribed.

lO. The combination in a gate constructed of longitudinal rods or bars,of a movable latch-bar constructed with a loop for engaging thegate-posts in its open and closed positions, said loop being supportedand guided between the gate rods or bars next adjacent to the latch-barabove and below the latter, substantiallyT as described.

1l. The combination in a gate, of a longitudinally-movablelatch-barconstructed with a loop for engaging the gate-posts in its open andclosed positions, said loop being supported and guided between guides onthe gate above and below the latch-bar, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

vXVILLIAM RICHARD WHITE.

Witnesses: JOHN F. WHITE, E. E. DONNELLY.

